10 Myths About IRS Audits

You don’t have to be a millionaire to be audited. The IRS audits people in all income brackets. Andrea Chu/Digital Vision/Thinkstock

While it may be true that big businesses and those earning large incomes are usually targets for IRS probes, this doesn't necessarily mean that those residing within low or middle-income brackets won't get audited.

The percentage of audits on low- to middle-income taxpayers steadily increased from 2006 to 2012, although it dropped in 2013 -- as did the percentage for every income group [source: IRS]. Simply put, it requires fewer resources to go after middle income people and as we stated previously, the IRS has been losing funding.

Additionally, the IRS has been cracking down on taxpayers who fraudulently claim the earned income tax credit, a big tax break worth an average of up to $6,044 for a family of five earning less than $51,567 a year [sources: Woodruff, IRS].